In Depth
by Lothlorienx
Summary: When Artemis went undercover with Kaldur, she knew that the two of them would become close, but this was closer than either of them originally thought. SeaArrow. Rated M for smut drabbles.
1. Chapter 1

"You have done well, Tigress."

Artemis nodded, a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"It means much to hear you say that, Kaldur'ahm," she replied. Turning, she faced him as they walked down the maze of metal corridors.

Making their way back to Kaldur's room.

"But it is true. Not only have you fought well, but your words have made great impact."

They rounded another corner, when Artemis finally recognized the corridor they had both been searching for. Her eyes followed down a couple of doors before she found the door that went towards Kaldur's room.

The hallway was completely deserted.

Seeing that they were alone, Kaldur grabbed Artemis by the waist and pulled her towards him.

He gave her broad smile, which she returned with ease.

All these weeks undercover in Black Manta's ship, things had become incredibly stressful. Maintaining cover had been easy enough with Kaldur's help, though.

And she had to admit, playing as lovers was the best of this mission.

Artemis wrapped her arms around Kaldur, pulling him closer and closer to her. Close enough so that he could feel her breath on his skin, whispering past the black armor that he still wore.

"I am overjoyed to hear you say that," Artemis responded again, and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Innocently, almost.

"Tigress, you are all this team could have hoped for, and then some."

She blushed.

"Your skills at fighting are superior, just like we all have known. But your words…they are different."

Kaldur leaned in close to her, whispering in her ear.

"They are strong and convincing."

His lips brushed up against her skin, beginning a slow path from her ear to her neck and to her shoulder blades. A fire was lighting up inside Artemis. She gripped at his armor tighter, frustrated that she could not get to his bare skin.

"Pleasant to have around?" Artemis asked. She remembered the remarks she had heard in the hallway hours before, the others still doubting her. Mocking her.

What she would give to pound her fist into their skulls.

"Artemis…" Kaldur whispered, using her real name.

It only made the flames grow hotter.

"The only thing unpleasant about you is your absence."

"Aren't you smooth," she told him, and broke away from their embrace.

She took a few steps forward, heading towards his room. Her footsteps echoed dully in the hallway; only hers.

Spinning around, she saw that Kaldur was still standing in the same place.

"Are you not coming?" she asked him, giving him her sultriest smile.

He nodded, following her all the way to his room at the end of the corridor.

The door slammed shut behind them, and locked automatically. Sighing, Artemis took off her mask, throwing it on the bed covers. She thought about taking the amulet off with it, but then pushed the thought from her mind.

_Too risky_, she thought.

"What time is it?" Kaldur asked her.

He was busy, watching himself in the mirror as he took off the black armor. It was intricate armor, complex to put on and take off without some kind of help.

"Thirty seven minutes past midnight," said Artemis.

Standing, she went to help him take off his armor. Unclasping the various pieces and parts that she didn't fully understand. Not that it mattered. It was of no importance if the binding was magnetic or hydraulic of whatever it was.

Kaldur raised his arms up, and Artemis pulled the chest plate off of him. Throwing it down onto the floor with a loud clank.

She wrapped her arms around his chest, feeling his abs. Leaning forward, she rested her head on his shoulder, watching them in the mirror. Feeling the warmth of his skin. And moved her hands up to his chest, tweaking at his nipples.

"I still have to removed the leg bracers," Kaldur told her.

"We'll get there eventually," she told him, pressing more kisses up against him.

"Why not now?"

He did not wait for her answer, but only bent down and began unfastening them as so.

After a minute, Artemis moved down to help him.

Finally, the last bits of it came off, leaving Kaldur standing almost completely naked in front of her. The only thing left was the thick underwear that he wore.

"You'd think that armor like that would require more underclothes," Artemis mused.

Kaldur's hands were at her hips, pulling her closer to him yet again.

"It's oddly comfortable. Able to be worn against bare skin," he whispered.

At the mention of bare skin, Artemis began stripping away the clothes from her. Dropping them off of her quickly, not bothering with any broken zippers or buttons or clasps. All of them flung away from her, landing wherever she threw them.

"Kaldur'ahm," she said, and pushed him down onto the bed.

She fell on top of him, pressing heated, frantic kisses against his skin. Artemis had his hands pinned down on the bed, but he jerked up against them, and she released him.

Allowing hands to explore her body with heated abandon.

Artemis began to grind up against him, moving to her own frantic pace. Kaldur's hands came to rest on her thighs, rocking with her motion.

Slipping her hands down his body, she hooked her fingers around the elastic of his boxers, and pulled them down off of his body.

She tossed them away to the corner.

She looked down at his body, wicked amusement in her eyes.

"I'd say we don't need any more foreplay," she said, running her hands down to his legs.

Kaldur only blushed in response.

She straddled him, eliciting a small moan from him. She pressed more kisses to him, working her way from his lips to his neck and throat, down to his chest and down to his abs.

Continuing down, until Kaldur put his hands out to stop her.

She looked up at him in confusion.

"Don't," he said, "please."

Artemis moved back up to his face, trying to hide her confusion. Kaldur only grabbed her head entwining his fingers through her hair, and kissed her deeply.

A long kiss was shared, heated and frantic.

Artemis, still straddling him, crept her hand down between them. Inching her way towards his cock. Once she reached it, Kaldur broke the kiss. Leaning back and gasping in surprise.

She began to stroke him with small, steady strokes. Clearly teasing him.

All the while, Kaldur shifted on the bed, trying not to thrust too wildly. He moaned again, and bit down on his lip.

"Artemis," he groaned, and opened his eyes.

She smirked down at him.

Pressed another kiss to his lips, and whispered in his ear, "Ride me."

He bit his lip again.

Artemis teased at his erection, waiting for him to do as she bid.

Finally relenting, he wrapped his arms around her and slid into her. Artemis hummed in pleasure, bucking her hips up against him.

His pace was slow at first, careful. His hands stroked up and down her back, eliciting more moans from her.

"Faster," Artemis whispered.

Still, his pace was slow. Even after he tried to quicken it. She bit at his skin, scratched his arms. Not satisfied, she began her own pace. She bucked her hips up against him frantically.

Kaldur groaned.

Artemis felt wonderful, and her quickened pace brought an entirely new sense of pleasure to him. One that he had never felt before. He bit his lip again and again, gasping and moaning.

His hands were grabbing at her flesh desperately, wanting to touch her forever.

"Ride me," she said again, louder. More forcefully. Her arousal was getting the better of her, claiming her senses as its own.

Soon, she would reach her high, and nothing would matter.

Nothing in the world.

"As you wish," Kaldur said, and flipped the two of them over.

Now he lay on top of her, pressing her down onto the sheets.

This time, his pace was rapid, frantic. Thrusting in and out of her at a pace neither of them had once thought possible. Artemis hummed in pleasure, moaning and gasping his name. She clutched at the sheets, her hips matching his thrusts.

Kaldur kept pressing kisses to her neck, her shoulders.

Her hands came up to his head, stroking his hair. Trying to goad him into kissing and biting at her breasts. It took a few subtle hints, but eventually he got the message.

His mouth found her breasts, and his tongue darted out, circling the soft flesh.

"Kaldur!"

She nearly yelled the word.

Her body was elated with pure ecstasy. Every nerve in her body seemed to sing, and the feeling between her legs was absolutely heavenly.

Kaldur, she just somehow knew, was close to his orgasm.

She wanted desperately to share that with him.

Her hand crept in between their legs, and her fingers found her clit. She teased it with tiny flicks and small, circular strokes. Heightening her orgasmic feelings.

With Kaldur's cock thrusting in and out of her so quickly, so wonderfully, it didn't take long before her small pace at her clit became rapid.

More and more and more.

Kaldur's arms wrapped around her tightly, squeezing her almost. Right beside her, he bit down on the sheets. His thrusts had reached an overwhelming speed.

With a loud moan barely muffled by the sheets, he reached his climax.

His entire body tensed up, his muscles spasming with the waves of pleasure the wrapped around him, dragged him down into that delicious feeling.

Still, he kept thrusting, though with a slower pace.

He knew Artemis had yet to come, and he needed her to.

Needed to feel her body release the same way his had. So he bit down harder at the sheets, thrusting himself in and out of her.

Artemis's hips kept bucking wildly, her hand stroking her clit with heated abandon. She kept moving Kaldur at her pace. Her moans were getting louder and louder, more heated.

Kaldur found them arousing.

Arousing the way she was getting pleasure from him, his body. The thought would normally make him blush, but in his current state, it could only arouse him more and more.

His own hand reached down, searching in between her thighs. With precise fingers, he stroked her inner thighs teasingly before thrusting his fingers inside of her.

Replacing the space where his cock had once been.

Her wetness and warmth enveloped his fingers. Quickly, he thrust his fingers in and out of her, letting her ride the waves of pleasure.

"Kaldur!" she was practically screaming his name.

"Kaldur!"

His lips came down and captured her breath in a kiss. A kiss so hot that Artemis blushed all the way down to her breasts.

Her fingers brushed at his, teasing her clit while he thrust his hand deeper and deeper inside of her. Her kisses were desperate, and she kept breaking away to moan and shout.

Kaldur kept kissing her.

Her hips came up one final time, and she reached her climax.

She let out a moan so long and loud, it could have woken the whole ship. Her eyes closed and her head thrown back, she vocalized the intensity of the orgasm that had taken over her body.

Kaldur stared down at her, watching her with increased arousal.

He still thrust his fingers in and out of her.

Artemis's orgasm lasted a long time, but eventually she came down from her high, only to have her hips bucking again and again at the pleasure. Soon, she orgasmed again, and her moans nearly doubled in sound.

"I think you enjoyed that," Kaldur said, pulling out of her at last.

His hand was completely wet with her fluid.

Not that he minded.

He captured his lips in another hot kiss. A gentler one, but one that had undertones of passion throughout it.

She blushed down to her breasts again.

Kaldur stroked them.

"We should be lovers more often," Kaldur whispered at Artemis, before capturing her in another kiss.

"I agree."


	2. Chapter 2

There was no sunrise to wake up to. Not even the weak rays of light that would filter through curtains.

Nothing but the blank coldness of the metal.

Although, Artemis supposed, that was the least of things wrong with this ship. She had been aboard Black Manta's ship for over a week, and every day she found something new that she hated.

But this moment, sunrise or not, was so perfect she could forget her hate.

Laying beneath the warmth of the covers, cuddled up next to Kaldur.

Whom, she noticed, was still naked.

She smiled weakly. Blinking her eyes once, twice, and then closing them all together. Sighing, she leaned her head back against the pillow they were sharing, letting herself drown in this feeling.

Sleep still wore down at her senses, making it all the more sweeter.

She pulled the covers up closer to her, warming herself even more. Beside her, Kaldur breathed deeply. She supposed that he was close to waking.

The two of them were holding onto each other, hugging each other for support.

Artemis and Kaldur sought each other in this crazy time, in this struggle that had become their lives.

So when they crept beneath the covers to sleep, or sought each other out to release the desperate tension that had crawled beneath their skin, they held onto their moments for as long as they could.

They needed each other.

That one source of sanity within this crazed scheme.

Kaldur's eyes slowly flickered open. The first thing he saw was Artemis, fast asleep on his pillow, bundled up close to him.

Happiness washed through him.

He pulled her closer to him, giving her a light kiss on the forehead.

Artemis sighed softly, and opened her eyes to look him in the face.

"Good morning," Kaldur said, pressing light kisses to her cheek.

"Morning," Artemis said, sighing again.

They hugged each other fiercely, wrapping their arms around each other like they intended never to let go. Still, sleep hung heavy on them.

Relaxed them like nothing else could.

"Kaldur," she breathed, sending shivers down Kaldur's skin.

He pulled the covers up around them more.

"Artemis," Kaldur said, kissing her once more.

"Yes?" she replied.

Her hands found his body, and she stroked them up and down his skin. She didn't have to look to find the beginnings of his black tattoos; simply knew where they were from how many times she had looked at them and admired them.

Her fingertips traced the patterns underneath the sheets.

"I fear something bad will happen today," he whispered, his breath tickling against her neck.

"Doesn't something bad happen everyday?" she asked him.

She moved to the back of his neck, pulling him in closer to her. They shared another kiss before she stopped.

Wanting nothing more, sleep still dragging her down, she rested her head up against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

In that moment, everything was so perfect.

She closed her eyes, blissfully.

Listening to Kaldur's steady heartbeat.

"That is true. But I fear something much worse is to come today."

Not even Kaldur's ominous statements could pull her out of her bliss. She hummed pleasantly up against his chest. She hugged at his waist, as best as she could do.

Yawning, she murmured something…

Something that even she did not know. Reassurements, she guessed.

Her world became nothing more than this moment. Her and Kaldur, naked and cuddling, still half-asleep, bundled up in their bed, a blissful detachment from the rest of the world.

Nothing could make her happier.

And Kaldur felt the same.


	3. Chapter 3

Artemis's legs were shaking so bad she could not even stand.

The white hot electricity of orgasm was flooding through her senses, gripping her body in its hold.

Her entire body was reduced to spasms of delight.

Her moans had mixed together in a sound that was purely her own; the sound of her in the intensity of her orgasm; that was the only sense you could make of it.

Every sense of her had become hazy in her high.

Kaldur's fingers still toyed with her mercilessly. His fingers still gently tapping and rubbing her clitoris, sending even more shocks of pleasure throughout her.

Not letting her rest.

Her hands were shaking too, her fingers unable to properly grip at anything. Artemis had been reduced to nothing more that the electric nerves that had claimed every sense for their own.

The whole of her wrapped in that feeling…

…and she felt that she would not be able to come down from her high for a long time.

Not with the way Kaldur played with her, expertly drawing out her orgasm for a as possible.

When Artemis would regain claim over her senses, if that ever did happen, she was sure she would be feeling nothing but the purest sense of love and intimacy ever.

He still tapped at the clitoris, circling it, flicking his fingers back and forth, pressing down and rubbing at it. Reducing Artemis to nothing more than gasps and moans.

Her body on edge; wanting more, craving more. Excited for what was to happen, how he would toy with her next.

She brought her shaking legs down, resting them for only an instant. Her entire body felt strained, the sparks still traveling through her. Another bolt of pleasure went through her entire body, and her trembling legs jumped into the air once more.

They moved to their own accord; she didn't have any control over her body anymore.

She knew nothing but this golden feeling; this feeling of pure energy, every nerve in her body alive; of nothing but the sweetest, most heavenly sense of pleasure and yet the burning pain of torture.

It would never end.

Her hands, still shaking hard, and her fingers dumbly twitching, she wrapped her hands around Kaldur, goading him.

The movement said, 'Don't stop. Don't stop.'

The nerves between her legs worked themselves up once more, sending her into another intense orgasm. Her body was wracked with spasms, her moans doubled. Her entire sense of being was lost in the never ending waves of pleasure.

Artemis thrust her hips upward, instinctively, pushing Kaldur's hand further into her. She rode him then, thrusting her hips to match the uneven pace of his hand. He stabbed his middle finger deep inside of her, causing her shaking legs to give way beneath her.

Nothing but this.

Nothing but this.

His lips pressed against her neck, and all she could feel was the hot wetness of his tongue and the warm softness of his lips. She could feel the smirk that he wore.

Let him smirk all he wants.

Incredibly long, intense orgasms, consecutively running into one another again and again. The white hot burning of pleasure, her body completely undone. This was far too good.

Let him smirk.


	4. Chapter 4

Sex was often times for fun. For joy and pleasure. Other times it was when you needed stress relief, or it was a moment of pure lust. And other times, love. Cherished love and sharing intimate moments, riding your lover until you both came, either softly or earth-shattering hard.

And tonight, it felt like it was all of that combined, and then some.

It was lust and love and pleasure and need. A burning need, tugging at the edges of both of them. They needed each other during these chaotic months, and nothing but their time together could ease that.

And sex always seemed to be their chosen togetherness.

It could have been a hundred other things, Artemis knew, but she didn't want it any other way. It was so sweet, the orgasms that would flood her body with release, and their physical closeness comforting.

She could almost pretend that it was like when they were back at the Cave in Happy Harbor, and all those brief moments where they had sought each other's comfort.

Kaldur had her in his bed once more, and she was face down on her stomach, head buried into the sheets and gripping at the covers. Artemis was usually loud during sex, as loud as she pleased, but she had since learned that the walls were not as soundproof as the two of them had originally thought.

Kaldur had his arms wrapped around her stomach, lifting her up slightly. He thrust in and out of her quickly, biting down on his lip when he wasn't whispering to her.

Artemis caught every other word he was saying, but she heard him say 'lover' so often.

Her hips thrust up without warning, just as Kaldur's thickened cock brushed up against her at just the right angle, stroking at all of her favorite spots. She gripped harder at the covers as she bucked her hips up against Kaldur. She wanted to yell out his name, or to moan louder than a scream.

Instead, a shaky, breathy moan whispered past her lips into the pillow.

"Lover," he whispered into her ear, and gave another thrust in her. Artemis let out another moan, drowning it out into the sheets.

Bringing her legs up, she tried to wrap them around him, though it seemed more than awkward at this angle. Still, she didn't care, and she hugged at him with her legs.

"Lover," she said back.

He was stroking her just right, at the perfect angle. Her head swam, and she lay her head on the pillow as if she were asleep. Every now and then she winced or gasped, and Kaldur's hands were touching her everywhere. When he brought his hand up to touch at her hair, she pulled his fingers to her lips and kissed at them.

Artemis rolled onto her back, her fingers playing with herself. Her eyes were half closed as she played with herself, softly stroking at her clit. Kaldur still pushed into her, now at a leisurely pace.

A moment later, she could feel Kaldur pressing kisses to her eyelids, brushing his lips over the sensitive skin. Shivers ran down her arms at the touch.

With trembling hands and shaking breath, he pulled out of her. The wet fluid ran down her inner thighs, and clung to Kaldur's body.

He added his own fingers to hers. It felt strange to feel two hands working away at her, but Artemis welcomed it all the same. Just as her own fingers circled her clit, Kaldur slid his inside of her. And then he found the soft skin inside of her, and his fingers hooked.

It took everything in her power not to wake the entire ship.

He hooked his fingers and gave a small thrust, and Artemis' body shook with pleasure. She bit down on her lip and Kaldur circled and hooked his fingers in her. Her own fingers were moving rapidly over her clit, bringing her closer with each passing moment.

And then, when she came, it was heaven and hell and sweet release. Just as the erotic flames filled her body with her orgasm, all her memories vanished, and everything fell away from her. So that nothing remained but her and Kaldur, her lover.

Her lover and more importantly, her partner.

Just as he was entering her, thrusting himself at the same familiar pace, letting Artemis come back down from her high with a soft landing. Her body still tingled, and sweat still shone on her skin.

She ran her fingers over him once more, and thought more about the two of them. It was amazing how much she trusted him. Out of everyone she had ever known, he was the one who had somehow gained her trust completely.

And he was the only one to ever do so.

Kaldur cried out as his own orgasm went through him, and his body shook with the waves of pleasure. Artemis gazed up at him with lustful eyes, loving the sight before her. Watching him come undone, and the look on his face when he finally came.

Priceless.

Her fingers stroked over his face, tracing his features.

He didn't notice at first, enveloped as he was in the aftershocks of orgasm. But as his other senses returned to him, and the aftershocks slowly faded and receded from his body, he became aware of her fingers once more.

Looking down at her, seeing her lusty gaze set on him.

He gave her a small smile, but it was charming all the same. Artemis pulled him back down to her, kissing him deeply. Her tongue darted out, and she licked the soft wet skin of his lips.

Which actually made him blush.

"Kaldur," Artemis whispered. Her voice was still uneven from her high, and she didn't care. From previous encounters, she knew Kaldur found it sexy. His eyes were shifted down, and her was gazing at her breasts shyly.

"Kaldur," she repeated, "look at me."

Slowly he lifted his eyes to look Artemis in her deep, dark brown eyes. Cupping his face, she said, "…You look lovely."

Kaldur loved the compliment, but he knew that was not what she wanted to say. She was holding back on something, and he knew. His eyes softened as he lay down next to her on the pillow, his body still half-draped over hers.

Still looking into her eyes, he said, "There is something more you want to say."

She nodded, slowly blinking. Once and then twice before voicing her thoughts.

"This is almost over. And we have been through so much…" her voice trailed off. Kaldur put his arm around her and pulled her body closer to his, embracing her. He waited for her to go on.

"This, our mission, is almost over. And nothing will be the same. You know they will hurt me."

"They will try to hurt me as well," he said to her.

Artemis sighed, and closed her eyes, turning her head upwards towards the ceiling. But continuing on, "And then we will go back, if we survive. Then what? We destroyed our home, and destroyed the trust of our friends…." her raspy whisper of a voice died off then.

"We will earn back their trust in due time." Even as he said it, Kaldur was not entirely positive.

He clutched Artemis closer to him.

But even this seemed not enough. Once more, he slipped his fingers between her legs and began to arouse her once more. Artemis gave off broken, breathy moans as her nerves came to life once more. Soon, her worries were once more drowned out, replaced by Kaldur and the next orgasm he could give her.

It was shallow and stupid to think that another orgasm could solve all their problems, and they knew that it couldn't. But it was all they could do in the present time. Time was moving on, but they were stuck waiting for the next move. Stuck being minions to Black Manta.

So seeking each other out, reliving their stolen moments when they sought the pleasure of each other's bodies, relieving the stress and pretending they were still young lovers back in the cave. It was all they could do.

And so, once more that night, they were having sex, again and again until neither of them knew anything any more. It was just raw nerves seeking the next release.

And they were just Kaldur and Artemis. Nothing more but (hopefully) they could be something less than even that. Just lovers. Only lovers.


	5. Chapter 5

Artemis didn't like sleeping alone nowadays.

Literally any other night, she would go to Kaldur's quarters, knock on the door and spend the night with him. Maybe not sleeping the whole night through, but the comfort would be there. Even if she slept only two hours, she would have at least five hours of being happy and contented—to some extent, that is.

But tonight was different.

Her eyes were watering, and she couldn't stop sneezing. She had swiped a bunch of medicines from the infirmary aboard the ship, but even then she needed time to fight back her sudden sickness.

Not wanting Kaldur to get infected with her brief cold, she was spending tonight, and most likely the next few nights, alone in her own quarters.

No one said anything.

No one ever did, of course. It was custom not to talk about people's living arrangements on the ship, for the ease of the collective crew. If anyone saw her going to Kaldur's bedroom night after night, they would never mention. Custom was as such.

And if Artemis didn't go to his bedroom for the next few nights while she was fighting her cold, no one would say anything about that either.

She leaned back on her mattress, with the blankets bundled up behind her to make it softer on her back. Pulling another tablet from the broken plastics, she popped it into her mouth, trying to make it dissolve quickly so she could take another one. Once that was done, she took a since pill to help ease her pains.

As if the cold wasn't enough, her entire body was aching from the latest training exercise.

But right now, she had all the time for herself. She wasn't due anywhere for the next few hours, so she could get some well needed sleep and relax. Plus, no one really wanted her near while they thought that she was infected with something.

Artemis was glad for that.

She should fight people with a cold more often, if it kept them wary.

Leaning back on her pillow, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply—through her mouth. Pulling the blankets on top of her, she rolled over and tried to find a comfortable position. One that would hopefully lull her to sleep. The ship was always unusually quiet, and the rumble of the engines could always be felt.

The sound of the engines, and the vibrations of the ship, had become soothing to her. After all this time, it should have.

The pill she had taken earlier said that it was supposed to help her with sleep.

She wished.

Kaldur was still in her mind, and the first night that she and her teammates had originally come up with this plan. It seemed like years ago, instead of just a couple of months. So close and yet so far away. Artemis could picture it so vividly, remember every detail from that night.

The very first night.

Back when it was still just a vague idea for Kaldur to have an accomplice. Back when Artemis could only amuse the idea of going undercover on Black Manta's ship. She had been so excited, so eager to jump at the newest adventure. Truthfully, she missed the action, so she took it immediately.

Back the very first night, she had said so.

She would go undercover.

Take the job.

The very thought of it had made her so happy.

As Artemis drifted off to sleep, or some strange drug-induced variation of sleep, the memories from that night came back to her, and she was reliving it again in her head. She could see it playing out so perfectly, like it was a movie instead of a memory.

It had been a moonless night, and the stars weren't visible because of all the electric lights. They were on a boardwalk, where a carnival was going on. Music, sounds, games, flashing lights, paid performers, and arcade games next to giant ferris wheels. The perfect place for hiding in plain sight.

Kaldur had worn a large orange sweater, and a ridiculous looking floppy hat, trying to blend in with the crowd. His father didn't know where he had gone, but he trusted his son so much that he didn't care. He didn't need to know, because his son was loyal, so he believed.

The sweater came up to hide his gills, and his baggy pants were trying to hide the webbing on his toes. Artemis had tried to blend in with the crowd too, but she didn't need to be as secretive as Kaldur. She should be here, and she didn't need an explanation.

And, she had thought back then, it had felt a bit like a date to her. It was a ironic thought, but she rolled with it anyway. She chose her best bra that night, giving her ideal cleavage, sported underneath a low-cut black top.

Kaldur hadn't even seemed to notice.

The perfume she had spritzed on herself was gone within minutes, so he didn't notice that either.

Thoughts were on other things. The undercover mission that Artemis wanted to take.

As she lay in bed, replaying the memory of that night, she wondered if this was happening again, would she take the offer? The thought spun in her head, drifting around as she froze the scene in her mind, she and Wally walking along with Dick and Kaldur, about to break the tension. She could still feel the cold sea breezes of the night rushing along her skin, the smell of cooked hot dogs and sugar, the multicolored lights extending far up past their heads.

Yes.

She would have. She would have taken it, even knowing what was now happening to her. Playing lovers with Kaldur made everything so much better; if it wasn't for his companionship, and the release he gave her, she would have cracked by now. Broken every mirror, shatter the glass pendant onto the floor.

Fight like hell to leave Black Manta's ship, and reveal to her grieving friends that she was not dead.

The scene began again in her head, picking up where it left off.

She, Kaldur, Dick, and Wally were all there on the docks with her, enjoying the evening as much as they could. Wally was stuffing cotton candy and hot dogs into his mouth the entire night, while the rest of them were lucky to just be getting down their sodas.

They took to weaving around people, trying not to look like they were all together, while they met up behind all the games and booths and stores, in the back of the place where it was almost completely dark and quiet. A stark contrast to the games that were going on just a few feet away from them. All four of them could hear the screams of delight and the random music drifting through the air towards them, but it was dull.

Dull enough they didn't need to block it out.

Kaldur and Artemis spent the most time alone. Even after so much had been discussed and settled and brought up again and revised, she and Kaldur often went out alone.

Artemis had enjoyed that.

Being alone with him.

And back then, it was so easy too. Maybe not as easy for him as it was for her, but still she had loved it all the same. It had felt like they were on a date, if in their dates they discussed plans for infiltrating an evil ship of a family member.

The emotional turmoil had yet to take its toll on her back then.

Back then, whenever she and Kaldur had had sex, it was mainly just for fun. Didn't seem like that anymore, as time on the ship wore on. Sex had become more and more emotional each time between them, not fun and light-hearted like it had been back at Happy Harbor.

She missed those days.

When she was better, she knew she would go to Kaldur again, spend some time with him and make love like they had done so many times on that ship, rarely getting caught. Let the sex be some kind of river for the bottled up emotions they both seemed to have for each other.

Back in her memories, she and Kaldur had snuck away at random times to kiss each other, briefly making out before the others caught up with them.

It was hard work, balancing random meet ups between the four of them, weaving back into the crowds and out of the crowds, and trying to keep suspicion off of them by changing how and when and who they talked to at a specific time.

That wasn't the official meet up, though.

That would have been stupid.

When they had discussed it in serious detail, later after having planned the location on the docks, that was when the conversation had gotten in depth.

When sleep had drifted over her, she dreamed about the night on the docks, and Kaldur's kisses, and her friends with her.


	6. Chapter 6

_So last chapter was kind of light hearted and easy going, and that's because I wanted that to be a softer blow for the emotional strain of this chapter. It can get kind of intense, I think, so..._

* * *

It was wrong. Everything was wrong. It was wrong and horrible and nerve-wracking and devastating and every other word there was for these emotions that rolled down their skin just the same as the droplets of water from the shower that mingled in with their tears.

Artemis made no sound, only a small gasp so shallow that only Kaldur could hear it. Tears were flowing freely down her face, uncaring, for it was what she needed right now. Kaldur wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close into him.

Together they stood under the warm water of the shower.

The lights were all off, casting them in complete darkness. With adjusted eyes, they could read each others' emotions as plainly as the sun in the sky. A sun that neither of them had seen for weeks now.

It had been so long.

"We destroyed the Cave," Artemis said, weeping harder. Even with the hot water of the showers, she felt chills all over her body.

"I know," Kaldur said, with downcast eyes. He bit back the sting of tears. "I know, but it had to be done." It was difficult to talk past the lump in his throat, but he forced it out, even if it was slightly choked.

Artemis kept shaking her head, and Kaldur hugged her tighter. Partially for her sake, partially for his. "We destroyed it! Blew it up! It's all gone now!" She gasped again, and Kaldur heard the intake of breath right next to his ear.

He rested his chin on her shoulder, staring past her naked breasts to the dark, warm water swirling around her bare feet and then spinning down the drain. It was mesmerizing, in a way. But it really didn't capture his attention, for he felt a blank nothing right now.

A hollow pit where his heart and stomach should be.

He squeezed Artemis tighter, and then squeezed his eyes shut. He sighed, as if that would somehow relieve the numbing pain that was spreading throughout his body. If he could sigh loud enough, maybe it would.

Intaking breath into his lungs, he felt them expand painfully into his ribs. It felt good, calming, to feel the fullness in his chest wherein his heart ached. He held it for a minute before sighing it out.

His breath slid warmly across Artemis' skin.

"I can't believe we did that. I can't believe-" her words were cut off once more. She didn't think she would ever be able to get over this. It was too much. Too much for her.

"It will be alright," he tried. "All of friends got out of the cave in time. No one was badly injured. They are all safe. We are safe, too. There can't be any more doubts, surely." His words sounded hollow.

He rubbed his hands up and down her body, trying to soothe them both. "It will be alright."

"I hope so," was all she said more.

The silence stretched between them for the longest time, blanketing them like a cloak. It was ease, it was comfort, it was a sense of serenity for them to not have to hear the harshness of words. What more could be said, anything that could, wouldn't help. Not like the silence could.

In a fog, soap was passed around, shampoo, face wash, and healing balm for any scars and bruises from their constant fights. They worked slowly, cleaning their bodies until there was nothing left to clean, but still they did not stop.

Only when the movements faltered when the tension between them changed.

Taking the bar of soap from Kaldur's hands, Artemis dropped it to the floor with a harsh bang, and sunk her eyes deep into his.

They were light, a pale greenish blue that she felt that she could loose herself in. They brought memories back to her, and sparked a bright heat within her. A slow smile crept to her face, though it was pained just the same.

Placing her hands on his shoulders, she leaned forward and kissed at his neck.

His lips were soft and smooth, running along the gills in his neck so intimately, making him shudder with the soft sensations. It tickled almost, they faint touch against so sensitive an area, and he loved it all the same.

He wrapped his arms around her back once more, crushing her into him in a hug that spoke of everything they had gone through and everything they still yet needed.

"Kaldur," Artemis' voice barely said. "Make love to me."

He opened his eyes to gaze down at her. Long blonde hair slicked back and stuck to her skin, rivers and streams of shower water tracing maps along her skin, a fresh red scar sewn up and healing along her calf. Her body clung to his, desperately.

"I will do so gladly," said he.

Kaldur kissed along her neck and shoulders, finding all her most pleasurable spots and darting his tongue out to spin small circles around her. His prying fingers, he reached down her body, sliding his hand from her breasts to her stomach and then down between her legs.

He pumped his fingers in and out of her, preparing her.

Artemis did the same for him, sliding her hands all around his body before stroking his cock, arousing him and letting that arousal build until he was fully erect.

They were ready.

Without a sound, Kaldur gathered Artemis into his arms and picked her up easily enough. Artemis didn't worry about him slipping and dropping her; the day an Atlantean slipped and fell in a puddle of water would be the day she developed superpowers.

She wrapped her body around him, crossing her arms and legs to a clasp at his back, and pressed her body hard against his. The warmth of his skin radiated off of him, and it felt so good to her. It felt like coming home.

He sank into her.

Artemis moaned, out of habit more than pleasure. Feeling Kaldur inside of her once more soothed her nerves and exciting her in ways she couldn't describe. Her breath slid out against his neck, mixing with the warmth of the water, and her hands slid all around him, though she kept her grasp around his neck.

From the nape of his neck to his cheeks to his head to his ears and then back again, she let her hands roam everywhere she could touch on his body. She needed him, despite...

Kaldur was Atlantean, so he was used to the water. His sexual anatomy was no different; even with the shower water pouring down on them both, his cock was still perfectly wet and slick, ready to take Artemis just as she liked. But Artemis could feel her slickness being washed away by the water, and because of that, he hurt.

With each thrust he gave up into her, small darts of pain webbed through her body, and she bit her lip and clutched him tighter as he made his rapid, needy love to her.

Never to she let him know, for admist the pain, he felt good. The pain mixing with the pleasure, and she wanted more of it, more of him. She wanted him to give her more until she could not even walk, and she was laying helpless in his arms while he pounded the regret from her mind.

"You feel so good," she whispered into his ear, and gave a moan. Whether genuine or forced, it did not matter.

She loved this feeling, of being broken and bruised and worshipping and exalted all at the same time; he hurt and the pain was enrapturing to her.

In his own way, in this moment in time, he felt wonderful.

She wondered if she were hurting him in return; her tightness constricting around him with barely any give. Wouldn't that hurt to some extent?

Maybe, and maybe he craved that same painful release just the same way she did.

To which she could understand.

She kept moaning his name, running her hands on him, letting her body be completely taken by his, wanting him in the most sinful way she could think of. For it was the sins that she had committed that was making her crave this pain.

And Kaldur. Kaldur felt so good to her, and she was so in love with him, she didn't think that she would ever be able to deny him. No matter what the circumstances, she felt that Kaldur would always have her in some way, some form.

He gave another sharp thrust up into her, and Artemis let go a slip of pain. Kaldur paused, terrified that he had hurt her. Which he had.

But Artemis said, "Why did you stop?"

"Am I hurting you?" he asked, concern etched deep within his eyes. He looked so worried, Artemis' mood dampened. She shook her head, no, and pleading with him to give her his cock.

"Please," she whispered, kissing every surface of him her lips could touch. "Please keep going, give me your best. Keep going...oh you feel good," she coaxed.

Her body rocked against his, using him to get off.

Once more, Kaldur started pistoning in and out of her, at a speed that made Artemis sing out. Her moans were loud, echoing through the small shower, amplified with each parting of her lips.

"Yes," she moaned, tears forming in her eyes. She squeezed them shut, letting them slide down her face, knowing that they would mix with the shower water and he would not feel them. "Yes," she said again, "yes."

Artemis moaned, and grit her teeth.

Kaldur still pumped himself in and out of her, trying to find some desperate relief within the sanctuary of her body. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he was hurting her, but she kept denying it. Of course she would lie. He clenched his jaw, and tried only to focus on the feeling of her.

Her soft, warm muscles clenching around him, her body pressed against his and motioning faster as she approached her climax. He gripped hard at her ass, sinking his nails in, and climaxed.

It came far too swiftly, and he nearly lost his balance as the feeling slammed into him. He cried out, arching his back, and Artemis only clung harder onto him.

"Ar-" he cried, then bit his tongue.

Her name could not be said, and in his moment of pleasure he had nearly forgotten that. When he came back down from his high, he chided himself, then focused on Artemis once more.

Her pleasure.

She kept moaning his name, grinding her body up against his, her need for his touch drowning out all other sensations within her. She needed him, needed the feel of him, no matter what he felt like. But even with his sweet touch and his gentle thrusts, she just couldn't come.

"Tigress," Kaldur said, then whispered as quietly as possible, "Artemis."

His fingers slid down to her once more, and rotated around her clit. Her hips immediately thrust up against his hand, and she wanted nothing more than to ride it.

They switched positions a many number of times, each time Kaldur pleasuring the best ways he knew how. Artemis kept moaning for him, aching for him. Never had Kaldur felt so appreciated within his life, and he found himself kissing her more than he ever had before.

They exchanged more kisses that night than they ever had before.

Finally, with Artemis laying down flat on the shower floor, her legs up in the air and Kaldur hovering over her, kissing her and moving his fingers rapidly over his clitoris, she came. A cross between a moan and a scream left her lips, and tears rolled freely from her.

Kaldur's thumbs were on her cheeks, wiping away the tears.

"You're crying," he said simply. Once more, concern etched into his features. Artemis tried her best to smile, but it only caused her to cry more. "I'm just-so happy," she said.

Wanting him not to say another word, she flung herself forward into his arms, hugging him tightly until the air felt as if it left their lungs. After a split second, Kaldur hugged her back, nearly crushing her into his embrace.

"I love you," she said. "Never let me go."

"Never."


	7. Chapter 7

_**So this is a fluffier chapter. Very fluffy, so to speak. You have been warned.**_

* * *

He hadn't let her go.

Not really.

But the pain of it was still there; the feeling like he had been ripped from her life and he left her standing all alone in the middle of a war she didn't know how to fight. There was nothing to describe the sinking feeling that she felt, the feeling of her heart descending into the murky depths of the ocean that he had loved and lived in.

Artemis stared down at the body of her lover, completely empty inside with his mind in disarray. Every part of her body was screaming out for her to take him into her arms and hold him and whisper sweet words and gentle reminders into his ear until he remembered who he was, and who she was, and who the team was, and who they were fighting for.

Artemis wanted Kaldur to look up at her with eyes of recognition, eyes that spoke to her very soul.

But his eyes didn't move. And even if they had, they wouldn't know her. The would be blank, vacant, unseeing to everything around him and looking as if it nothing wasn there. He was lost.

Lost to her.

He would never had let her go, but he didn't have the choice.

So Artemis—_Tigress_—stayed by his bedside for long hours. When she could. She was an assassin (or so they thought), a skilled fighter, and one of the strongest members onboard Manta's ship. She was valuable, and she couldn't be wasting away by Kaldur's side day and night. She needed to leave him, every now and then, even if she didn't want to.

It hurt her.

She had let him go.

Always giving him a backwards glance just before she left his room, wanting to say so much to him, but couldn't. It would be like speaking to a gravestone. Blank and empty, not seeing and not hearing.

Sleeping alone in bed was the worst of it all.

She had become so dependent on Kaldur, of him always there by her side, to comfort her. To caress her when her body ached from all the training, to kiss her when she felt miserable, to cuddle her when she felt like the world was breaking down all around her and she hadn't any place to go. That was what she felt when she was alone in bed.

Lonely. And though she would never admit it, fear. And panic and endless melancholy as she thought of Kaldur laying dead-eyed in bed.

She didn't blame Megan, though. She couldn't. She was a strong physic who had taken to melting the minds of her victims, so she _did_ have her faults. But she had been lied to, had been made to believe that Artemis was dead and that Kaldur had killed her in cold blood. Megan had wanted revenge, had wanted to soothe the pain in her heart of having to grieve for a dead friend. She wanted Kaldur to pay for what he had done.

How could she have known Kaldur was a double agent, with her right by his side?

But Artemis wanted to blame her.

If she did, she felt that there would be an outlet to her rage and pain. If she could focus all those negative emotions on Megan, then maybe she could find some peace. Let out all her hate, until she was emptied and all that was left of her was a blank space to fill with new emotions all over again.

Thoughts of screaming and yelling at her, maybe even smacking her upside the head. Maybe even making her cry. But Artemis just couldn't hold onto the thought. Megan, one of her best friends…

She found herself at Kaldur's bedside once more, looking at his face, searching his features for some sign that he was still in there, still watching the world and waiting to wake up. But not a twitch or a blink could be found on his face. Artemis had placed her mask on her lap, so the concern etched on her face was seen by all who ever entered the room.

Even when Black Manta himself slid the mechanical door open, and stepped inside to help nurse his son, Artemis didn't even move. She had heard him approaching, but she didn't care. The sound of his approach rang on ears almost as dead as Kaldur's.

Black Manta took in the scene around him, of Kaldur'ahm laying broken in bed, and Tigress practically mourning at his bedside. Grief was etched onto his face all the while, just as it marked Tigress' features. He noted how close the two of them were.

He had almost caught them in the act, one time.

When the two of them had been in a quiet, secluded spot, he had been searching for Kaldur'ahm to give the next set of orders to. He had always been prideful of his son, and welcoming to Tigress—his hand-picked right hand—but he hadn't completely expected anything to be going on between them. If he ever had thought that way, it must have been buried deep within his brain.

Kaldur'ahm and Tigress, the image of them standing in a dark room where the water of the deep oceans gave little light. His armor undone, and his head relaxing up against her breast. Her hands on his shoulders, hugging him to her body. And the look the two exchanged, as they leaned gently forward, lips parting…

Just before Black Manta had ruined the moment.

"Tigress," Black Manta said, calling her attention to him.

Her ears twitched at the sound, and she listened to what he was about to say, but she didn't remove her eyes from Kaldur. She felt like it would be a sin, to not look at him and keep watch over him. It would be like she was abandoning him, leaving him vulnerable. But when Black Manta called her name—well, her title—again, she knew that he wanted her to look at him.

"Yes, sir?" she asked him.

With a sigh, he stepped up to her, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know you want to stay here with Kaldur'ahm. I truly do understand your reasoning. If I could stay by his side day and night, I very well would."

Artemis opened her mouth to say something, but the words died in her throat. She didn't have anything to say, couldn't think of anything that would ease the burden of Kaldur's condition. Pulling her eyes away from him, she focused her attention back to Kaldur again, wishing with everything she had in her that he would wake up, and break the spell he had been put under.

But his mind was in ruins. What could possibly fix that?

As if reading her mind, Black Manta spoke up once more, answering her question.

"You should know, I have arranged for the physic Simon to come and help heal my son. Put his mind back together."

Artemis' eyes widened, both out of shock and fear. Simon roaming around within Kaldur's mind would put the whole mission in jeopardy, and that was a risk they couldn't take. But also inside of her, hope sprung up. If she could have Kaldur back, she…

No, that couldn't happen.

Not ever.

It would be better for Kaldur to remain in his vegetated state for years this way than to have Simon digging through his mind, sorting every single thought, exposing every secret and shadow. All the hidden parts of him coming to light.

_Perhaps Megan can restore his mind,_ Artemis thought. It was if a desperate fever had taken hold of her. _Megan is far stronger than Simon. She could rebuild his mind. And it would be far safer. Well, for us. If Megan were on board this ship, the consequences…_

Tigress gave a shudder.

"Don't worry," Black Manta told her. "I know for sure that Simon can do this. His telepathic abilities are strong, and I haven't any doubt about his loyalty." His gaze turned from Tigress back to Kaldur'ahm. "We will have him back. That I guarantee."

_Yes, we will,_ Artemis thought, though she couldn't rid herself of the pit forming in her stomach. Dark and heavy, it weighted down on her. She thought of how she could get rid of Simon, and do so without blowing her cover. Megan would have to be the one to put his mind back together, that much she knew.

Staring down at Kaldur's blank face only made the pit heavier, the knot tighten to the point of physical pain. But still, she remained still and silent. They could all know of her love for Kaldur, for she didn't care how many people knew, but no one could know of her pressing dilemma—well, their pressing dilemma.

_Megan, I'm counting on you._

* * *

Pale eyes met her once more.

A smile upon their lips in the dark of the night; Kaldur's mind whole once more. The damage having been done repaired once more, and the days having returned to as close to normal as they ever would be. So much time had Kaldur spent convincing his father that everything had gone back to the way it was.

Artemis leaned forward, and touched his cheek gently. Kaldur closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, his hand resting over hers.

They didn't say anything, for there was nothing to be said. Not in the dark of the night, where the air was so thick you could cut the tension with a knife, and every verbal attempt at communicating failed miserably. There were no words for this moment.

A rebuilt Atlantis needed no poems.

Artemis' thumb stroked his cheek, with a steady and even pace. She wanted to make him feel good, and her physical closeness and compassion was how she planned to do so. He needed to know that she was here, that he was not alone in this world, that Atlantis was not in ruinsm and that he was not broken or defeated. He was whole again.

That Artemis loved him all the same.

Out of everything in this mission, that was the biggest reveal of them all. A secret buried deep within them. The files, the information, the secrets and the lies and the coded documents being passed to the team back on land. All those were important, and they were proceeding well enough. There was plenty of reward in this hell of an undercover mission.

But Artemis had discovered one more thing that she had never expected to discover while on board the ship: she loved him.

He had been her boyfriend for a while, but now he was truly her _lover_. No, more than that. So much more to her than words could hope to express.

By the look in his eyes, the emotion on his face, the way he moved his head, Kaldur knew that too and thought the same thing she did. He loved her. If everything were to go wrong and there was nothing left of them; if they were tortured to death or forced to fight for their very lives, the realization would keep them whole.

When everything was said and done, the partnership between two terrible enemies broken for good with all their secrets and ulterior motives revealed for good, and they had returned back home, there was no telling what would happen then. Artemis hoped that it would remain the same, that they could still share the intensity of moments like this between them once more.

That when they were back safe (in another location aside from the cave that they still mourned for), that they would still be able to make love like the whole world was falling apart. Or maybe they would just sink back to what they had been; a boyfriend and a girlfriend, trying to make each other happy and having sex just for the fun of it. The only option was to wait and see what happened.

Without a word spoken, Artemis leaned into his body, and Kaldur wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace and stroking her loose hair. They hugged tightly, wanting to feel the beating of each others heart pounding against their chest. Kaldur kissed her gently on the crown of her hair, and whispered something in Atlantean.

His words were so quiet and soft.

As the time drifted on, Artemis and Kaldur shifted an inch at a time under the covers. Pulling the bedsheets over them, they lay flat down on the bed, a pillow for each of their heads. They said nothing, and did not close their eyes. They watched each other, eyes open the whole time. They knew that this would be stolen from them when the sun rose and everyone had to fulfill their duties to the ship once more. Carry out the orders of Black Manta and his army. So they stayed awake to make it last.

Kaldur moved forward on the mattress, wrapping his arms around his lover and pulling her close to him once more. He kissed her everywhere; her lips, the tip of her nose, her eyelids, and across her forehead. Along her neck and on her shoulders, on her fingertips and on her wrist.

_Never let me go,_ said each kiss.

_Never let me go again._


	8. Chapter 8

"Artemis?" came Kaldur's voice on a whisper.

Artemis remained silent. She feared that if she spoke, she would have said something she didn't really mean. Or said something that she would have meant far too much. Such were the extremes in the hours past midnight; the hours before what was supposed to be dawn.

She heard his footsteps; a soft padding upon the metal floor as his bare, webbed feet made his way over to her.

Artemis felt him brush back a wisp of her hair. The blonde-glamored-black hair that she so often wore down nowadays. Not for her cover, but just because. Kaldur rested a hand upon her shoulder, thinking it the only way to comfort her.

"Artemis?" he asked again, his voice just as soft.

Still she remained silent. Her lips were dry from words unspoken, but she felt them become wet as a single tear rolled down her face. Suddenly filled with rage, Artemis cried out, lashing her fist forward and destroying yet another mirror.

Reflective shards sprayed around her fist, falling with harmonic, metallic clinks. Kaldur didn't flinch once.

He squeezed her shoulder tighter.

"Artemis, look at me," he bid her.

Slowly, Artemis closed her eyes and turned her face towards Kaldur's direction. Tears were still threatening to squeeze past the barriers of her eyelids, but Artemis held them in as much as she could.

Kaldur added a second hand, now holding her softly on both shoulders.

A minute ticked by, then two, then however many after that was anyone's guess. She wasn't keeping count. Such things were beyond her right now. There was only one clock she went by, as the time drew nearer: the countdown until this would all be over.

Artemis lifted her head and opened her eyes. Tears betrayed her by flowing down her cheek, a soft wet stream against the barren land of her stressed skin. Kaldur lifted his hand to wipe away her tears with his thumb.

Artemis clasped her hand over his, as it rested upon her cheek.

"Only another week," Kaldur said, knowing what she thought. Knowing what she felt. They seemed to share the same mind lately.

And why not?

The both dreamed of getting out of here. To returning to their friends…and hoping that they were still friends. Of no longer playing double agent or spy. Of no longer stressing over maintaining cover.

No more working for the bad guys.

Artemis had tried to spin it every other way, any other way. She tried to turn it into something different, see it like she had when the plan was first conceived. But that was what it boiled down to in the end.

They were working for the bad guys.

She felt like she had betrayed her heroism, the good she was supposed to be doing in the world. So different from when she had first thought of this; when she thought that doing this would be epic, and that it would prove to be the most heroic thing she had ever done in her life. But now she just felt like a coward.

_How ironic,_ she thought.

Her head fell limp to her chest again, and her eyes slid closed so easily. She was tired, but it was the kind of tired that sleep would not cure. Not even the kind that sleep would help.

Kaldur could only pull her into his embrace. That would make him feel better, at least. He could only hope it would make Artemis feel better, if only a little bit. He hugged her, tightly, not wanting to let go.

Artemis stood rooted to the spot, unmoving, but she eventually returned his hug. Wrapping her arms around his waist, and holding him close.

Artemis wondered to herself if she could allow herself to feel peace. If she had it within her to feel peace. She came close to finding that happy solace within Kaldur's arms, but it still didn't feel like enough. She thought she felt twinges of guilt beneath everything, after she had moved past the multiple layers of exhaustion. But that still wasn't accurate.

_Maybe there are no words to describe this._

"Let us sit," Kaldur said to her after a while.

His legs were killing him, and standing only made it worse. He needed to get off of his feet, almost as much as he needed sleep. Or peace of mind. Or to return to the time when everything was well in the world, and the Team's biggest crisis was trying to find their leader.

They moved over to his bed…the only piece of furniture there was to sit on in this bare room. The stool that had once been in there had long since been returned to the controls unit, and no one on Black Manta's ship was allowed the luxury of seating within their quarters. Mainly because that was a place to sleep, and only to sleep. If two people were inside a bedroom together, it was well assumed that they would be sharing a bed in one way or another.

So no chairs. Not even Black Manta's room.

It felt nostalgic to be in bed with Kaldur again. Artemis allowed a smile to creep onto her face. She leaned into him once more, and he wrapped his arm around her.

"One more week," Artemis murmured into the air. "And then we'll go back."

"Yes," Kaldur whispered in agreement.

They felt too tired to continue sitting up. Too tired to still be awake anymore. The nostalgic feeling returned to Artemis once more as she rid herself of her clothes, constricting and uncomfortable, and climbed underneath the covers and laid her head on his pillow.

"One more week," Artemis kept repeating. "One more week. One more week."

Kaldur was soothed by her voice. Listening to her chant took the work of him having to think it himself; of his mind not letting him rest as those words spun around and around in his mind. A reminder that scraped at the fabric of his mind.

Almost as bad as Megan's mental powers. Except that _this_ was something that he did to himself.

Granted, after the weeks they had spent healing him, he had felt better than he had felt in years. Ever since he had learned of his father's true identity; ever since Tula died.

_To think this is comfort_, Kaldur thought.

"One more week," Artemis mumbled. Her words slurred into one long sound that became harder and harder to distinguish. "Onemoreweekonemoreweekonemoreweek," continually came the sound from her lips.

Her voice was white noise within the quiet air.

Kaldur put a single finger to her lips, quieting her. "Do not waste so much energy." His voice was just as low, as quiet. White noise. "Do not torment yourself."

"You're doing the same," Artemis automatically responded. Even after her comment had registered within her malnourished mind, she still didn't care. It was the truth.

Truth was something that she needed right now. Amongst all the lies and schemes and deceptions of their plans that had taken over and fully consumed their lives, truth was what she needed.

It was what Kaldur needed to. So he relished in the honesty of her comment. She was right; so _painfully_ right.

Artemis quieted only when she felt Kaldur's webbed fingers intertwine in her golden strands of hair. Hair that was supposed to be black, but wasn't. He stroked her hair, delicately, in his half-asleep state.

As Artemis' eyes drifted closed, Kaldur remained wide awake, his eyes fixed on the ceiling above him.

"Artemis?" he whispered into the vacant, soundless room.

"Hmm?" she hummed back in reply.

He turned onto his side, to look her fully in the eye. Eyes that were supposed to be a dark, murky blue but were glamored to be a light brown. But he saw her for who she really was, and that alone was what had kept him sane all this time.

"Promise me that tomorrow night will be better," he whispered, leaning in to her until their foreheads touched.

Artemis softly touched his cheek.

"I promise," Artemis mumbled through barely moving lips. _But do I even have that much control?_

She thought not.


	9. Chapter 9

_I feel kind of strange about this chapter, for some reason, so maybe let me know what you think. Reviews I would appreciate, if you wanna write one or not. Just because. Please enjoy, and thank you for reading._

* * *

"Tigress," Kaldur'ahm acknowledged as she walked into the empty conference room. She didn't take off her mask, and her only greeting was a curt nod in his direction.

Kaldur turned his attention back to the large map that spanned the entire length of the metal wall in front of him. Right now, the location was on the topographic ridges and valleys of the Atlantic Ocean, on a specific region over a hundred miles off the coast of their home on the surface.

Kaldur studied the circular, organic shapes on the papery map, noting the specific depth of each valley among the emerging craters surrounding the dark ship.

Artemis said nothing, but walked up to his side and put a hand on his armored shoulder. He could hear her approaching by her footsteps.

"What are you looking for?" Artemis asked him.

Kaldur shook his head. "Nothing. I only wish to memorize our surroundings. Such knowledge could prove useful in the long run," he said to her.

_Just like Kaldur,_ Artemis though. _Perfect for a leader. Perfect for this mission. _

She turned his gaze from his face, stoic and trained on the chart in front of him, to gazing at the chart itself. She could read an underwater map easily enough, but she didn't really care for studying it.

"Kaldur'ahm," Artemis said, using the name that she was always supposed to use for him, "very shortly we will be approaching a trench in between these two ridges here–"

She pointed.

"Just as I have expected," he replied.

A small smirk came to her face as she watched him. "Kaldur'ahm," she repeated, wanting him to look at her. His focus was upon the map for the longest of times, before he finally got the hint and redirected his eyes upon his glamored teammate.

"Tigress," he responded to her. "What it is?" he asked after a second had ticked by.

"We are alone…" she said.

"Yes…?" He already seemed to know what she was suggesting. But he couldn't be sure. In her face, something had changed. Something within her had changed, and he couldn't be sure what.

She was different from the woman she had been last night, and the night before, and the night before that. All those other times, both of them had been morose and sullen, not really wanting anything other than to curl up in each others arms and sleep and sleep and sleep. And the darkest of nights, they had wished for nothing more than the metal of the ship to slice apart and let the torrents of water rush into drown and crush them. Like being swallowed up by the earth, and then forever lost in a peaceful darkness where their worries would evaporate.

But now, a fire was lit within her. A fire that Kaldur thought had died weeks ago. A fire that he hadn't thought would ever return to her face; not anytime soon, that is. Maybe in months, years even. Yet now, it was there now, in her eyes, and the sight of it brought him joy.

Already, it seemed to him like the two of them were about to return to their before life. A certain wave of…_clarity_…washed over his heart. It eased his lungs, it dulled the ache in his head, it made him slacken his jaw.

"No one is going to be using this room… Not for another three hours, at least…" Artemis kept saying. Her voice as low and seductive. Just like it had been when she had first come with him undercover.

What seemed like eons ago.

"That is true. Are you suggesting…?" Kaldur trailed off, not wanting to say the word. Not wanting to say anything. Afraid that he might break the moment…though he didn't know why. But still, this seemed like such a delicate thing, like a candle trying to be shielded from the wind.

Artemis took off the tiger mask that she wore, and placed it upon the nearby table. Wrapping her arms around him, she pressed a kiss to his lips, and she felt his arms wrap around her in turn.

"I believe you are suggesting…"

"Me. You. Right here, right now." Artemis kissed him once more, deepening her kiss, putting every ounce of _whatever_ it was that she had within her into the sparks that were flying between them. All her passion, all that hopeful fire within her heart.

"That seems like too dangerous a risk," Kaldur whispered to her when he attempted to catch his breath.

Artemis shook her head, and walked away from him, back to the threshold where the mechanical door was sealed and locked tight.

In the case of flooding, all doors were sealed tight. Air pockets that would keep the crew breathing if worse came to worse. Beside the door was a control panel. Artemis began punching in numbers, and then decided against it. With a yell of rage, she brought her foot up and kicked the buttons in, making minuscule bolts of lightning spring from the destructed wires.

"Locked," Artemis said to him with a shrug.

She walked back over to where Kaldur stood, and leaned back upon the table. Kicking her body up, she sat down upon the smooth, flat surface, looking up at him expectedly.

"Something about you has changed," Kaldur said to her simply. "You are…_positive_…for lack of a better word. What has changed?" he asked her.

Artemis heaved a sigh and dropped her head, her eyes closing. She didn't really want to think about it. She didn't want to think about why she was so upbeat today. She just wanted to revel in the fact that she _was_ upbeat today. That she didn't feel like she was drowning where no one could help, and that she was screaming when she couldn't breathe.

She didn't feel like that at all anymore. She felt…well, _something_ inside of her. Something bright, and lightweight. Something that spoke to her and said that everything was going to be alright.

Maybe it was the fact that their mission was so close to being done with. Maybe it was the fact that they had discovered exactly what was going on between The Reach and The Light. Maybe it was because the final plans were being put into place. Maybe it was all of this combined.

Or, less likely, it was none of it combined.

Maybe Artemis had become so sad and lost and alone that she had transcended all of those emotions and had somehow looped back around to happy again. Like the feeling of impending doom had been so ingrained within her that it said, _Why not be happy until your time ends?_

Whatever it was, Artemis felt unburdened. Something she hadn't felt in weeks, months. And she wanted it desperately now.

She wanted Kaldur, wanted to feel him, wanted to make love with him. She wanted to be happy, and enjoy another orgasm, and for them to find another moment of solace upon the dismal plane of their crisis.

Artemis looked up at Kaldur once more.

He still watched her, expectantly. _Something_ was in him, too.

"I cannot say for sure, Kaldur'ahm," she said, using her formal speech pattern once more. "But what I do know is that I want to make it last. I want you, and I want to share my sudden and unexplainable happiness with you."

She reached out to take his gloved hand in hers.

"What do you say?" she asked him, her voice once more dropping low and becoming more melodic. A stark contrast from her serious tone of the previous minute.

Artemis thought she saw Kaldur smile as he thought it over.

The temptation of doing something forbidden flared up within him. Made his blood rush and his heart pound; made him breathe deeper and his eyes dilate. He was becoming excited at the prospect and then…a sure sign of arousal…he felt himself become slightly hard.

But he thought of the disapproving, stern look of his father glaring down at him and it made him soft once more. Seemed to dwarf the rising spirit that he'd had within him.

"If it's all in good fun," Kaldur tried to reason with himself; he tried pushing his father's face out of his brain and only focus down on Artemis.

Artemis gave a beaming smile at the fact that he'd consented, and opened her arms as he leaned into her body, smothering her lips with kisses. Kaldur kept growing between his legs as he kissed her, bright positivity of his own rising up within him. Just the thought of being together in a place where there weren't ever supposed to be…

The forbidden temptation once again.

A quote that Kaldur had heard long, long ago appeared within his mind. _Forbidden fruit holds no appeal until we know it is forbidden._

Artemis was already starting to take off her clothes. Starting with her shoes; thick, tough black boots that could withstand anything. Then the straps of weapons that clung to her body. The corset-like armor around her chest that protected her from attacks to her midsection. As Artemis pulled this piece off of her, she felt the pang of an unwanted memory stab into her mind.

The memory of Kaldur supposedly killing her, stabbing her where she was unprotected, where her organs were vulnerable and she could easily die.

_"Welcome back,"_ he had whispered.

"Tigress," Kaldur'ahm called her, bringing her back into the present once more. She snapped back slowly, the room around her coming into focus once more.

_We're really gonna do this,_ Artemis thought to herself, as if now she were the one who had been presented with the option instead of it being the other way around.

Artemis took a deep breath, ready to plunge into the depths of their desire.

It was ending, but at the same time it felt like it was just beginning.

Artemis continued to unsnap and pull off her clothes, pushing them off onto the sides of the table. Kaldur's hands were upon her, feeling her with now-ungloved hands as he released himself from the harsh constraints of his armor.

True to form, beneath his hardened, black metal armor was softer underclothes. Soft enough to protect his skin from the wounding that would have scarred and marked and bruised his body without it. Artemis snaked her fingers up underneath the hem of Kaldur's top, and slowly began lifting it up off of him. He didn't resist, and held his arms upright so that she could get the fabric barrier away from them both.

She pressed her naked breasts up against his chest, indulging in the feeling of his warmth colliding and joining with hers.

She could almost feel his heartbeat, if she focused hard enough. Could almost hear it, if she willed her ears to hear the sound.

But she was no Superboy, she knew. It was all in her head, all in her heart.

Artemis found herself on her back, while Kaldur climbed on top of her, straddling her and letting his lips play at her neck and cheeks and collarbones. She felt on fire, the heat rising in her body as her arousal increased.

Artemis lifted her hands to his head, trying to press his lips harder upon her. Her heart started to flutter, or at least it felt like it did. Either way, the feeling was nice.

Another moan broke free from her.

"_Sshhh,_" Kaldur hushed her, alert in his eyes. He darted his sight to the door, broken into a closed position, and back down at Artemis lying naked beneath him. Naked aside from her glamor pendant.

_Never take that off,_ he thought in his head.

"What?" Artemis asked him. She seemed defiant, but her voice was quiet. Meaning that–or at least he hoped it meant–that she had decided to listen to his warning.

"They might hear us," Kaldur told her frantically.

"I was under the impression that most of the rooms here were soundproof," she replied easily. Still her voice was low.

Kaldur made no response.

Leaning back up, Artemis reached for the bottom half of Kaldur's armor, seeking to undo it. The mechanical sigh of release followed with each piece of the black metal she undid from him, and let collide to the floor.

Kaldur gave obvious winces when each piece made loud, metallic clanks that he swore was loud enough to wake the dead. _If only,_ the thought grimly. Artemis wrapped her arms around him once more, making his fear dissipate into a sexual hunger once more.

His boxers and fabricated leggings were all that stood between them now, and Kaldur, despite himself, pulled those eagerly from his body, until he too stood as naked as Artemis.

Artemis pretended not to see the blush that crept across his face.

She looked down at him, in all of his glory, and that bright spark illuminated her eyes. Made her skin glow, made her smile beam. Kaldur couldn't help but be effected by her remarkable–and inexplicable–happiness.

Reaching forward, she gripped his arms and pulled him closer to her, until he was straddling her nude frame with his own body. Artemis wrapped her arms and legs around him, and pressed the heat of their skin together until the pressure between them built to a needy push.

Kaldur kissed along her neck and collarbones, like he had done so many times before.

He didn't admit it, and he didn't need to admit it (for Artemis already knew it), but he was going through the motions. Do this, and then do this, and then do this. Being in the empty conference room made him nervous, and found his mind spacing out at random moments. _Just do what you have been doing; it does not require that much thought._ Each time he thought he heard someone or something approaching, he halted their kisses, stilled his breath, and looked towards the door as if he could see someone about to materialize in front of it.

"Kaldur'ahm," Artemis whispered in his ear. Her eyes had turned towards the closed, broken door as well. "No one is going to walk in on us. Just enjoy this…"

She eased him to look at her once more, with gentle prodding with her fingers and sweet nothings in the air between them.

Artemis saw Kaldur part his lips, and she moved in to close her own around them. They were sweet and warm, and he kissed her as if he were seeking something. Like he could gleam something from inside of her soul just by running his tongue along her bottom lip like he did. And yet it felt so mechanical, like he had become a machine.

Artemis put her hand down on his hip, and gave a rough squeeze, letting her nails sink into his skin.

Kaldur grunted.

_No one is watching,_ he told himself. But still he didn't make move to enter her. Artemis could feel his erection up against her thigh, pressing up against her with a needy pulse, but Kaldur held back.

Her arms squeezed around his back; her legs tightened around his hips as she sought to push him inside of her.

_Please take me,_ she wanted her hug to say. _Please, let us be nothing more than lovers right now. Nothing more than lovers._

Time rolled on between them until Artemis realizes that she's going to have to be the one to initiate the first move. Wrapping her arms and legs around his body once more, and tightening him into a strong-hold, she rolls them both over so that now he is underneath her.

He looks up at her with trust and longing in his face, etched in between the desire that he tried to hide away. Tried to but couldn't. The throb of his erection was evident of that.

Artemis' thighs rubbed up against his hips, and slowly she sinks down onto him, making him groan and his muscles tighten. When she can take no more of him into her, she begins a slow grind up against his body. Back and forth, she rocks on him. As her arousal builds, she becomes wetter and her walls expand more, letting him get deeper inside of her. Without pain, that is. Artemis quickens as she rides him, growing bolder.

Kaldur lulled his head back and stifled his moans by biting his lip, letting Artemis do as she wished.

Another hard jolt up against him made his entire body convulse, and he began to tremble when he felt Artemis' breath up against his sensitive gills, and her tongue slide along the slits.

"Perfect," he hears Artemis whisper into his ear.

_Perfect, indeed,_ he thought. Though he could not be entirely sure if that was one hundred percent true. Especially went he felt small pricks of panic within his mind whenever he heard something near the door.

"You are worrying," Artemis said plainly.

"I am afraid that I cannot help it," Kaldur replied to her. A small twinge of guilt was in his voice.

_I will make him let go of his fear,_ Artemis thought suddenly, a wild abandon taking hold of her. She wanted him to let go so badly, for him to feel like she did. She wanted to see him for what he was when they had first met; wanted to see who he was before he had decided to take on this mission.

She rode him as hard as she could then, grinding up against him as fast as she could, and her hands everywhere. Her nails trailed along his chest, flicking at his nipples until they had both tweaked, and then along his arms and ribcage. She captured him in a kiss so rough that her teeth gave little nips at his tongue. She slammed her body down onto his as she desperately tried to get him off, make him feel the same way she was feeling.

Kaldur noticed she was still making an attempt to be quiet.

Artemis stopped then, taking her legs away from his body. Kaldur leaned up to watch her more closely, curious as to what she was doing. His suspicions died when he saw her spin her body around, and then straddle him again, this time with her back facing him.

He circled his arms around her waist as she sat upon his lap. The kisses to her shoulders felt wonderful, and Artemis closed her eyes and let out a moan that would have been loud. Would have been, if Kaldur had not put his hand to her mouth.

Artemis pressed herself up against his back, positioned her legs accordingly, and began her frantic, rapid pace once more.

Sweat began to coat her skin, and the scent of musk and desire became thicker. The aroma laced her hair as the blonde-glamored-black strands became damp with her effort.

She saw, that when Kaldur pressed his fingers to her clit, that he was feeling the same strain as she was; his fingers were slick from their own perspiration when he made contact with her clit. Kaldur let the tips of his fingers brush against the thickness of his cock for only a second before he slid his fingers back and forth against Artemis' clit. She was dripping wet, and the skin slid easily back and forth. His thumb ran along the hood, pulling back at her clitoris as she neared orgasm. Kaldur pressed his fingers closer, still teasing her clit so that she could come.

So that she could come and this all would be over quickly.

Artemis still rode him, even when she felt her body start to ache. Mainly the joints in her hips, but she could not stop. Not now. This feeling was far too grand for her to end, and the energy of her euphoria was driving her onwards. Not until they had reached their orgasms together would she stop.

And only then.

With her legs, she pushed Kaldur's legs further apart, and leaned back on her palms. To her thrill, she felt Kaldur thrust hard up inside of her, with just as much vigor that she had. Just as happily as she was. His arms tightened around her, crushing her hips to his, and he joined her in her sexual frenzy.

He brushed her blonde hair back out of his face and kissed her neck.

Artemis clenched her muscles around him tightly and breathed out his name, she licked her lips, as if savoring the taste of his name on her lips.

Kaldur gave another hard thrust up inside of her, and stayed buried to the hilt in her, pushing harder to make the pressure build inside of his lover. Her muscles convulsed around him.

Artemis' breath became faster and faster.

Kaldur's thrusts became random, quick and quicker.

Kaldur's fingers rushed over her.

Just as Artemis had wanted, they climaxed together.

They let the feeling linger for as long as possible before they finally had to come back down from the high. Their breaths were coming quickly, a deep heaving, in and out, as their lungs expanded and collapsed. Artemis slowly closed her legs, the joints in her hips aching as she did so.

When the endorphins wore off, Kaldur jumped off the table and quickly began pulling his clothes on again. Artemis watched in slow fascination. Things seemed to be happening far away, as if in a dream. Reaching forward appeared to take an eternity, but she finally placed her hand upon Kaldur's wrist, just as he was correcting his tumbled and bunched undershirt.

"How do you feel?" she asked in a husky voice.

"Better," he replied quickly. All too quickly. He saw her flinch at his words, like they had stung or struck her. "I did not mean it like that," he told her, slowing his words and putting a hand upon her shoulder.

Artemis cocked her head.

_She doesn't believe my words,_ Kaldur realized.

"Tigress," he whispered, still using their cover names. He let his forehead lean up against hers, and a smile stretched across her face once more. The easy happiness graced her once more.

Kaldur could almost feel the same way.

"Believe me, I feel better. I feel happy...almost. Please do not take offense."

"Why would I do that?" Artemis asked him. Her eyes opened and closed, as she needed to see if face clearly to assess what he was saying. But she wanted to keep her eyes closed to drift in the darkness and the memories. The dark happiness that she had.

"I..." Kaldur let his words trail off. He had nothing to say. Nothing he could think to say.

So he only pulled his shirt back on himself. The fabric became slightly damp as it collected the drying sweat upon his body, and it soaked in the scent of his musk. Artemis leaned forward even more, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt in her hands. She nearly clawed at the fabric, and Kaldur thought that she might actually tear it.

She didn't, though.

"Kaldur..." she used his short name. He looked up at her, his pale grey irises meeting the deep, dark blue of her own. Almost black, they were so dark. Only he could see them for what they were, out of everyone on the entire ship.

He could not say her name back in return. On this ship, she was Tigress. And only Tigress. No name and hardly any history. A mystery to most, and he did not care. She was safe, just as safe as he was. No one else knew anything, but he seemed to know everything. As if he could read her story within her eyes.

Her real eyes.

"I think I understand now," Kaldur said to her, feeling the flame of hope inside of his heart.


	10. Chapter 10

It shouldn't have been a surprise when Artemis started crying when Kaldur said he loved her. But it was, because Artemis didn't cry. Artemis _never_ cried. She was tough and rough and held back all her emotions and held back none of her fire and ambition. But here she was, crying her eyes out, because Kaldur had said he loved her when she was convinced everyone hated her.

What they had done…everything they had ruined, everything they had destroyed and demolished. Artemis could only look at it with guilt, and then with fear.

They were going back to their teammates, if they would agree to be their teammates again and not attack them on the spot. And now, that sudden moment of happiness the two of them had shared before now shattered in their world as the time grew nearer and fear started to take over. It would not be the way it was before, because they had destroyed everything, had ruined everything.

Artemis was positive they would hate her, and send her back with her tail between her legs, and leave her to suffer with the memories of all her sins. But Artemis hated herself more…

And that was why she began to cry. Because Kaldur had said that he loved her when she could only despise herself, couldn't find it within her to love herself. Because he would love her when she couldn't, when she only wanted to fall apart and not exist anymore.

What she had done there was no forgiving. When she looked in the mirror, she wanted to hurt the girl staring back at her, make her suffer even more. Break her, even when she was broken.

Kaldur's hands were on her shoulders, and then on her knuckles, picking out the broken shards of glass.

How many mirrors had she broken? How many shards of glass had lain on the floor at her feet? How long would it be before she was able to look herself in the eyes again? She didn't know. The answer to any of those questions, she just didn't know.

Artemis tried not to think about them, but what else was there to think about?

The mission.

That was what had kept her going, and when that couldn't keep her together, Kaldur.

There was some irony in this, Artemis had to admit. After all, the reason _she_ was here was to do what Kaldur was doing to her now. She was supposed to be protecting him from himself, aiding him when he was falling into that self-hatred. True, there were more reasons she had joined him: to access his mental state, to make sure that he was truly on their side. To help him with this mission, which had proven too great for one person alone. To protect him should the mission come too close to discovery, which it had as expected. All of this and more was why she was the one chosen to go down with him.

But now, it was him picking her up. Him wrapping his arms around her, hugging her from behind, and doing nothing more than being there for her. A small part of Artemis wondered if Kaldur would cry if she said that she loved him. She decided to try it, but not just to find out. Because it was true, and that he needed to hear it.

"And _I_ love _you_, Kaldur," she said, her voice low in the quiet darkness.

She felt his arms tighten around her, and his lips press up against the back of her shoulder, traveling up her neck. Soft butterfly kisses that made her skin shiver and let her tears flow freely. It felt so good, in so many ways.

"Then we are both fortunate," he murmured back to her. His breath ghosted across her skin as he spoke. Artemis closed her eyes, and more tears spilled down her lashes. Opening them again made them burn, but it was a comforting type of burn. "To be loved is the best life can offer," he murmured again.

"Definitely," Artemis agreed with him, in a raspy voice. It was what helped her now, let her feel what she had been afraid to feel. It truly was a gift, to be loved. And after all the things she had done, after every terrible, horrific act she had committed, it was _beyond_ miraculous that someone could love her at all.

But then again, Kaldur felt the same way. What he had done, what he had destroyed, the betrayal that he had dealt out to his friends and teammates, making them hate him and call for his death, lust for his blood, desire his pain and agony. He thought it impossible to regain what was left of his honor; he had given it up for the sake of the world, for the truth of this mysterious enemy that had to be stopped.

_The martyr playing the villain._

And Artemis said that he was loved, that she loved him, even after all this. The words rang in the air, echoed in his ears.

It was enough to keep them strong.

When the world hated them, they would love each other. That a single person saying '_I love you'_ could trump a thousand people saying '_I hate you_.' Maybe that was what it would come down to in the end, though they hoped that it wouldn't.

_Let it be true,_ they thought.


	11. Chapter 11

_I've never seen the team so livid, _Nightwing's file read.

Kaldur scanned over the words carefully, committing every one of them to memory, for the second he was done reading he intended to wipe the flash drive complete clean, to where not even the 1s and 0s could be accessed anymore.

.

_They were all beyond furious with me (and Wally) that I'd kept a secret like that from them. And I can't blame them. After the risks we took with this mission, I wouldn't expect anything different. Hell, I'm amazed that they still bothered to listen to me after all that._

_At first no one believed me (or Wally), and it was Megan that finally got them to believe us. It took a lot of convincing, a long and drawn out explanatory speech, and finally she decided to show them all her memories. Zatanna pitched in too, vouching for the glamor pendant Artemis is wearing. She helped to really pull it all together and convince people to believe it._

_It took three days exactly after that moment before they all agreed to meet up as a full team to discuss the matter further. They were still pretty livid, fired up and angry. Pretty pissed off, through and through. I can only hope that they harvest that anger and direct it at the next attack we plan._

_The plan is this: every member of the Team will infiltrate the Summit between The Light and The Reach. Kaldur and Artemis: since you are responsible for the security surrounding the light, it should be fairly easy for L Squad to sneak into costume and get into position. R Squad will prove more difficult, but the plans are already underway, and so far we have confidence in our plan._

_No one's place on either squad is defined yet, except for Megan's, who will be disguised as Deathstroke. This is because of the distinct look of him; whereas the rest of Black Manta's soldiers tend to where armor that covers their face, we need not be concerned with someone who can completely morph their look. So, M. Martian will go as Slade Wilson._

_Wally has agreed to suit up again for this mission, since we need all hands on deck for an operation this big. He will go as Kid Flash, along with Impulse (Bart Allen; see page 4 for more details), to the meeting. He made it clear that he still planned to go into retirement after this all was over. _

_Artemis, if you wish the same, I understand that (along with Wally's decision). None of us need an answer at any time; your actions will prove enough. If you do come to a distinct and definitive decision, let it be known when the Team has rejoined._

_._

Kaldur stopped reading there, turning his eyes away from the screen to Artemis, who was sitting on the chair next to him, reading carefully over the lines of text Nightwing had typed out.

"Not very thorough with details, is he?" she mumbled.

"It is sufficient," he replied, his voice as quiet as hers. "Besides, I believe there will be more information on the next pages."

"So long as the whole document isn't profile after profile. What is this, anyway? This looks like something you'd fill out on a dating site…well, except for his specific blood type and powers and DNA and whatnot." Artemis stopped there, feeling like she had said far too much. Which she probably had. She reached forward and scrolled back up the screen, to where page two was.

"Not to mention Green Beetle. His story is quite unnerving," Kaldur added.

Artemis looked back up at his face. He turned his gaze towards her in turn, looking deep into her dark eyes. There was a glimmer that could be mistaken as any and every emotion; Kaldur could not read it. Artemis knew what she felt though. The fact that this was almost over, and that they were putting the final actions into place; she felt happy. Relieved. There was a lightness in her, a feeling that everything would work out for the best. They would be the good guys again, and that made her feel almost free.

"Scroll down," Kaldur requested of her, and Artemis slid the pages up along the screen to the next page of words.

**Page 2,** the top of the screen now read.

.

_We've already began tracking Deathstroke's movements, so we'll know where he is when the time comes to replace him. I can't tell you specifically how we're tracking him, but I can tell you that it isn't any way that can be traced via technology of either Earth or alien origin._

_As for the Summit meeting place, we haven't been able to pinpoint exact location, but we have narrowed it down to somewhere within a ten mile radius. Megan will help with the final locating of the Summit, along with the other soldiers when we disguise ourselves amongst them._

_You're directions were a big help, and I mean that sincerely. As for this entire undercover mission, I consider it a huge success._

_._

"At least someone does," Artemis thought aloud.

"It hasn't been proven successful entirely…not yet," Kaldur agreed with her. "But as for the most part, I think we should look back on this with a sense of victory. We've discovered that The Light and The Reach have both been playing each other for fools. We've gotten our place on the team back, and we will be able to infiltrate the Summit without problem…from the sound of it."

He paused, looking from the screen to Artemis again.

"I'm not going be positive about any of this until we come back out again on the other side," she whispered. "Until then, I still have a terrible feeling about this whole thing."

"Understood," he whispered.

Before turning his attention back to the screen, as Artemis had already done, he reached across the space between them and laid his hand on top of hers. Artemis stopped reading, and a small smile passed over her face. She glanced down at their hands, but only for a moment.

Artemis read on.

Eventually the words started to blur on the screen, and she had to look away, to give her eyes a break. If she couldn't fully focus, she might miss something, or misunderstand something (which was worse). Closing her eyes, she put a hand up to rub at them, trying to clear her sight.

When she opened them, she was met with Kaldur's careful stare once more.

"It's late," she whispered, as if that would explain it._ It should,_ she thought. Late night reading always made words blurry, at least to her. And to other people, she knew.

"I know," Kaldur whispered back. "But I must finish this file. I plan to delete everything once we have committed these words to memory, so that no one will find out. And it is not safe to do so in the morning, when everyone is awake."

"I understand," Artemis said, "and I'll stay up with you. To finish the files."

At that, Kaldur smiled. He knew Artemis always pushed herself, and this was just another part of her that had survived what they had gone through. So often she had been tired, remorseful. Now he was beginning to see her as Artemis once more, not the blonde haired girl dressed as Tigress.

_She is becoming herself once more,_ he thought.

Artemis had her eyes focused on the document in front of her, so she did not notice that Kaldur was staring at her, gazing at her with love and wonder in his eyes. If she had noticed, she would have said something. Asked him what that look was all about, and then probably would have teased it off of him. But her weary eyes stayed focused on the words before her.

"Tigress," he whispered, calling her attention to him once more. He could see the exhaustion in her eyes.

A faint smile flickered across her face, and then she stood from her seat. Two steps, and then she sat down upon his lap. Kaldur did not expect it, but he welcomed it all the same. He wrapped a single arm around her, looking up at her tired face with his own. The night was creeping past them, like lightning during a storm. Here in a flash, and then gone with the blink of an eye. Artemis looped her arms around his neck, and then laid her head down, close to his. Her blonde hair fell along his shoulder, and whispered across his gills.

She looked deep in thought, despite the somewhat peaceful position she was in.

"Something wrong?" he asked her. He placed a hand on her arm.

Artemis shook her head, no. But still, there was the distant, troubled look in her eyes, and Kaldur was not easily fooled.

"Ti–Artemis," he said, his voice so low that only she could have heard it, with her ears so close to his lips. "I wish you would tell me the truth."

"Nothing's wrong," she told him, a breathy sigh escaping her. She leaned her head back up, closing her eyes as she turned her face away from him. "I'm just thinking," she quietly said.

"About what?"

"Our time together." She turned her head back around to him, opening her eyes. She looked so ready to end this. She looked like she needed at least ten hours sleep, just to make the exhaustion go away. Maybe fifteen.

Kaldur could understand.

"I…" He trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"You don't have to say anything," Artemis mumbled, and laid her head down on his shoulder once more. "We just need to get done reading…"

Kaldur nodded in agreement. Artemis was the one who reached forward, and brought the flash drive closer to them. It was tech that couldn't be tracked; not of Manta origin, or alien origin, or even Team or League origin. It simply was.

The end of the drive couldn't come fast enough. But after the pages had run out, they scrolled back up, reading over the words twice more, before Kaldur wiped the flash drive clean. And then tossed it into the small sink and turned on the water, damaging it beyond repair. All their secrets hidden once more. Never to be caught.

"Ready for bed?" Kaldur asked sheepishly, turning towards Artemis.

"Yeah," she whispered with a yawn, and was already making her way towards the bed that they had shared so many times. She was ready for bed, and ready for the Summit, and finally ready to rejoin the team and leave this nightmare behind her.

Kaldur got into the bed with her, laying by her side. In the thin space between them, he reached out for her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. He shared the same sentiments; he was eager to rejoin the team and leave this cursed life behind him. No longer having to sacrifice so much of himself, wanting to live out the life of the martyr no more.

Kaldur and Artemis had kept each other out of the dark places within their minds, that threatened to overcome them. In the end, as they prepared for the Summit meeting and moved their bodies closer to each other in the bed, they knew they'd never have been able to last…or even have lived through this…without the other.

"Goodnight," he whispered to Artemis.

"And good luck," Artemis whispered back.

"I plan on it." Kaldur said no more, and all was silent as they let the night fall around them. Soft and silent.

* * *

**The End**


End file.
